El Remanso Blog

Bats usually use existing cavities such as caves or tree-holes as roosting sites. On very rare cases the do their own homes, and this is one of those peculiar cases where bats built a shelter for the group, that includes adult males, moms and babies. Bats chew the center vain of a palm-leaf hence the leaf drops forming a tent. In the forest reserve at El Remanso on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica you can see over 50 species of bats, among them several that use leafs as shelter. Have you ever seen them in nature? Tell us and share your pics!

It happens that cicadas (from Latin cicada means “tree cricket”) can’t wait until February 14th to celebrate love, but started one month before and they keep going. For a couple of months starting with the dry season here at El Remanso and everywhere on the Osa Peninsula the sounds of the forest are dominated by the love song of these insects. Same as cicadas in temperate forest, the tropical fellows as nymphs (young insects) live in the ground, they come out of the ground to molt and become the adults we see (and hear!).

Chestnut-mandibled toucans (Ramphastos ambiguus swainsonii)) are one of the 2 members of the Toucan family (Ramphastidae) that you can find in the Osa Peninsula. It is frequent to spot toucans at El Remanso, specially from the restaurant deck in the early mornings as well as anywhere in the tropical garden of the lodge. Since yesterday we have our "yearly visitors" back and nesting in a tree cavity next to the main driveway of the lodge. This is the third year in a row where we have been able to observe a couple of toucans using the exact same hole to create their nest.

Common Pauraque - «cuyeo» - Nyctidromus albicollis The Pauraque is a nocturnal bird that lives in open areas such as secondary forest or forest edges; hence it is highly probable that they would live in the gardens around the lodge. But this bird rests and nests in the ground blended with the leaf litter, which makes it difficult to spot. Although this species is fairly common and widely distributed, is not common to find a nest.

Night tours at El Remanso are lead by naturalist guide Rinaldo. The tour starts usually at 5.30, once the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean down here in the Osa Peninsula. Commonly seen wildlife during this tour includes spiders, frogs, toats, snakes, opposums and sometimes even sleeping mammals. The tour usually starts with some time next to the El Remanso pool or our new "frog pond" where different types of frogs and toats can be found. The most looked for is certainly the red-eye tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas), the most "photogenic of the frogs in the pond"!

Patrick Schmidt and his family returned this afternoon from our river walk and brought the exciting news! They encountered a puma next to the creek and got a good look at it. It was resting on the river bank and did not run away for a good while! How fortunate!! This happens just 6 days after Adriana saw a female puma chasing a small animal in front...

Yesterday, El Remanso participated in the annual Osa Peninsula Audubon Christmas bird count! Again this year, local organizations, eco-lodges and the community joined for this century-long Audubon Society tradition. During all tours, from dawn to dusk, guides and guests were invited to keep track of the birds they had seen.

Yesterday evening, at 5 o'clock, Adriana spotted a frequent visitor to the El Remanso grounds: a female puma was chasing it's prey behind Casa Osa and the lobby towards the top of ridge! Although frequently photographed with the camera traps, puma sightings are always something special and to see one hunting is exceptional! Check our older posts on our blog to see the some pictures of pumas caught by our camera traps at El Remanso Lodge. The study conducted by Yaguara monitors the activity of wildcats on the Osa Peninsula and has been supported by the lodge since 2006.

Today we want to present you the changes we have implemented in the 4 standard rooms and 2 Suites of Casa Poniente. Starting with the ocean-view standard rooms: at the entrance of the room you will now find a spacious outside wooden deck:

At El Remanso we are glad to announce that we have recently completed a series of upgrades in our classic cabins and all of the rooms of Casa Poniente. Over the last months we have worked a lot to finalize the changes and we believe that you will like these accommodation options even more than before! Today we'll start to present the upgrades of our 3 classic cabins:, the original and initial units of El Remanso, built from beautiful hard-wood timber from certified fallen trees in the property of the lodge.

After some rainy days in the Osa, the sun is back and we hope this is the first sign of our "summer" or dry season! To celebrate we had 2 couples of Scarlet Macaws visit us next to the swimming pool the whole afternoon: It was feeding time on the beach almond trees! A great opportunity for everyone to take some nice shots!

Early morning and you hear the "zum-zum sounds" around the tropical garden of El Remanso. The sound comes from the only group of birds that are able to fly backwards...we are talking about hummingbirds of course. We do not use any bird-feeders at the lodge but thanks to a big variety of native heliconias (also referred to as false birds-of-paradise or lobster-claws) in our garden, there are always hummingbirds flying next to the cabins.

Enjoy these great shots taken on the El Remanso grounds by the Wildcat Conservation Program Yaguará with their camera traps! It includes some of the rare animals of the Osa Peninsula rainforest such as the puma or the agouti paca. [gallery link="file"]

GREAT NEWS!!! We have just received the results from the Certification for Sustainable Tourism from the Costa Rican Tourism Board: El Remanso Lodge has been awarded with the "Level 5" of the Certification for Sustainable Tourism! This is the highest possible rating and El Remanso has achieved 100% of the points in the 4 areas of the evaluation. We're of course very excited and it represents a great reward for the hard work done by the whole El Remanso team in their different areas over the last few years!

It might seem like an oxymoron, but the truth is undeniable: The handsome king vulture deserves his royal name! While grey headed and turkey vultures are widespread throughout the Americas, the King Vulture depends on very healthy forests to survive. It’s quite a treat that at El Remanso they are frequently spotted soaring above the canopy, or perched on a branch to dry out their wings, as seen in this picture taken yesterday by Dani from the restaurant deck. One thing's for sure: no carcass will last long once the king picks up its scent!

This Sunday our local school Carbonera arranged a “Domingo Deportivo”, to raise funds for some repairs that need to be done in the classrooms. Different people and organizations from the community pitched in by donating money, drinks and food to sell to the visitors who came to watch the big attraction: matches between the local soccer teams! Besides donating some funds and drinks, El Remanso’s staff was eager to put on its bright orange t-shirts to play against the other teams for this good cause. The rain did not stop us! And the fundraiser was a success!